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29 February 2016

Sorry for the lack of posts last week. The time got away from me and I didn't have the chance to get anything written up. I will post the manicures I had done at some point.

**Polishes were provided for review**

I have another Essence Collection to show you today. I had planned on doing these individually but they are so similar I thought they'd be better off going in one post. Now these polishes are designed as beautifying polishes. Kind of like "my nails but better". If you are after a natural looking nail then these are the polishes you'd probably gravitate for. I like more opaque polishes so I built them up to show their true colour. Bare that in mind when reading the review!

First up is 01 Girl's best FRENCH

Girl's best FRENCH was the most sheer of the three. The formula is ok. It's slightly thick but it doesn't look it on the nails. In the bottle it is the pinkest of the 3. I have on 3 coats but a forth makes it more opaque.

Shown is 4 coats. I like my polish to be as opaque as possible so this is my preferred look. It does look ok at 3 if you don't mind a bit of visible nail line.

Next we have 02 FRENCHs are forever

FRENCHs are forever is more of an apricot pink. Again the formula was slightly thick but this did not look thick on the nail. It was easy to apply and it didn't flood my cuticles.

Again I am showing this at 4 coats. Out of the 3 I would say this was the most flattering on my skintone. You can get away with 3 coats on this one depending on your nail length.

Last up is 03 true FRENCHship

true FRENCHship is the lightest of the 3. It's an off white shade in the same style as the rest. The formula was kind of streaky and it left more bald spots on my nails. This was more noticeable with this polish as it was so far from my natural nail colour.

The pictures show it at 4 coats. Like the others it was a thicker formula but on the nail it looked fine. Not my favourite out of the 3.

I'm pretty sure these polishes are already availble so check out the stand in your local stockist if you are interested!

18 February 2016

I started this manicure with the best intentions but it just didn't want to work with me. As part of the Weekly Dose of Rainbows group on instagram we were told to do a watermarble for this weeks post. I hate marbling but I gave it a go.

I used OPI Kiss me I'm Brazillian and I just can't cope-acabana for this. I didn't bother with a basecoat. It bubbled on pretty much every nail annoyingly. I topped it with Sally Hansen 3D gel shine topcoat to try and cover the bubbles (it didn't work). I love the colours together, they are so bright and fun and they mix really well.

16 February 2016

Another of the Essence polishes from the Valentines Who Cares collection is a metallic beige. This colour reminded me of coffee so I kept it aside for this weeks Twinsie Tuesday post.
Love is in the air-don't breathe! has the best name out of the collection for sure. The formula is a little uneven which shows up if you leave it matte but add on a topcoat and you're grand.

I have on 2 coats of Love is in the air- don't breathe without a basecoat. You can see it looks uneven and a bit streaky with the matte finish.
For the glossy pictures I added on a coat of Sally hansen 3d gel shine topcoat which helped to even it out. This polish doesn't suit me, it is far too pale, but out of the 2 I prefer it with the glossy topcoat.

The collection is available now with each polish costing €2.29 each for a slightly smaller 9ml bottle. The brush is thin and short but I had no trouble using it. It is very easy to get around your cuticles without flooding them and I had very little clean up to do on any of the polishes from the collection.

15 February 2016

The second polish from the Essence Valentines collection is a denim blue with silver shimmer.
The formula on this was a bit thin. They definitely don't feel the same compared to their regular polishes that I have tried mainly due to the brush.

Talk to the hand is a 2-3 coater depending on your nail length and how you apply it. This also dries matte and it looks nice but I'd definitely add a topcoat it. It's a nice polish but I have another denim polish that I much prefer which is opaque in one coat.

I have on 2 coats without a basecoat. For the glossy pictures I used a coat of the Sally Hansen 3d Gel shine topcoat. I don't love the thin brush but it does make it easier to get a clean line around your cuticles.

The collection is available now with each polish costing €2.29 each for a slightly smaller 9ml bottle. The brush is thin and short but I had no trouble using it. It is very easy to get around your cuticles without flooding them and I had very little clean up to do on any of the polishes from the collection.

11 February 2016

Another Valentine-y nail polst but this time it is for A Weekly dose of Rainbows. The theme for this week was Love so I went with the the nail design I love to wear the most: Polka dots!

I started with 2 coats of Essence Valentine- Who Cares? polish in 03 Crew love is true love. I used one thick coat of Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in 430 Creme de la Creme on my accent nail. For the polka dots I used a smaller dotting tool with Creme de la creme.

I topped it all off with Sally Hansen 3D gel shine topcoat to blend it all together and give it that gel look.

09 February 2016

Fail! I tried to do some hearts using my dotting tools but I just cannot get the hang of it. I do like the bigger individual ones on my middle and pinky finger but the group of hearts on the other nails look messy :(

I used the new Essence Valentine Who cares? polish in 02 Talk to the hand for my base. On for the hearts I used OPI Kiss me I'm Brazillian which is a lovely bubblegum pink. Nice and bright but not too garish.

I topped it off with Sally Hansen 3d Gel shine topcoat and that's all there is to it!

08 February 2016

Today I have one of the 4 polishes from the Essence Valentine Who cares? Collection to show ye. This collection takes a different route to most others that are released around this time of year. Instead of reds and pinks it includes an army green, denim blue and pale gold along with a cherry red.

L.O.V.E blah blah blah is the first in the collection. It is a matte army green creme. The formula on this is great, 2 easy coats and it is easy to apply. The formula is slightly thick but very easy to work with. It dries to a matte "Latex" finish.

I did two coats without a top or basecoat for the swatches above. I used one coat of the Sally Hansen 3D gel topcoat for the swatches below. It is a lovely polish and it looks beautiful either way. I wouldn't personally go for this kind of colour but I do like it.

The collection is available now with each polish costing €2.29 each for a slightly smaller 9ml bottle. The brush is thin and short but I had no trouble using it. It is very easy to get around your cuticles without flooding them and I had very little clean up to do on any of the polishes from the collection.

04 February 2016

It's been a while since I tried some Tribal nails so these might not be all that accurate but hey ho!

I started with a neutral base so the colours on top would really pop. For that I used 2 coats of Essence the gel nail polish 05 Sweet as Candy. Once that was dry I freehanded the design using Barry m Denim. I like the matte finish on this polish but with a topcoat the shimmer really stands out. It's very pretty and super opaque. I thought it was looking a little bare at this point so I filled in some of the areas using Giorgio Armani 301 Gio. I added on a topcoat which helped smooth out the lines and make it look a bit more blended together and that was it!

Pretty pleased with it now, the colours look pretty together and it doesn't look too OTT thanks to the neutral base. Tribal nails used to be pretty common but I don't see them all that often on the blogs that I follow here or on instagram. It's funny how quickly nail designs go in and out of popularity.

02 February 2016

Mix and match nails are the theme for this week. I decided to go with mix and match textures so I used a creme and a textured polish for my manicure.

I started off with a coat of Sally Hansen complete Salon Manicure in 674 Nightwatch (always reminds me of the Discworld characters!) I then striped off the nails diagonally using some striping tape. Seeing as I was using a pretty dark base with a lighter colour on top I used a base colour before adding on the textured polish. The base I used was Essence the gel nail polish in 38 Love is in the Air. Once that had dries I added on a coat of Barry m textured nail polish in Station Road.

I love these two colours together. The contrast is pretty striking even without the textured effect of the yellow.

01 February 2016

Dior Mirage is described as a gel shine polish that is long wear and let me tell you that is accurate! Mirage is a slightly muted berry with an incredible formula. 2 coats on long and short nails and you are good to go. It does have a beautiful shine to it but I always topcoat my polishes to extend the wear time.

The brush on the Dior gel polishes is massive! It spreads out way more than the Sally Hansen brushes in the Miracle gel and Complete Salon Manicure range. It is perfect until I get to my pinky finger and then I have to be a bit gentler so I don't flood my nail. Otherwise is makes for great application.

2 coats, no streaking or bald spots. It wears like iron too. I managed 6 days with no chipping and very light tip wear before I took it off. It really is amazing. I don't know how the other polishes in the line match up to it but first impressions are great for this line. Plus I love this particular colour. Perfect for all seasons.